Glimmerglass by Jenna Black

From Goodreads: Dana Hathaway doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, Dana decides she’s had it with being her mother’s keeper, so she packs her bags and heads to stay with her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn't just an ordinary teenage girl—she's a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie. 

Soon, she finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone's trying to kill her, and everyone wants something from her, even her newfound friends and family. Suddenly, life with her alcoholic mom doesn't sound half bad, and Dana would do anything to escape Avalon and get back home. Too bad both her friends and her enemies alike are determined not to let her go . . 

I really enjoyed this book, but I honestly think it was too short. I would have loved to have seen more about Dana's life before with her alcoholic mother because it is such an important topic. Not only that, but you could have understood more deeply her coping mechanisms when brought to life/death situations in Avalon. It just seemed that there needed to be more of a build up, not as to why she left, but how she was able to get through things by herself when it looked like she couldn't trust anyone. I also wanted it longer because when the book ends, I just wanted to read more! Is this really a bad criticism? Not really. I do believe it does touch on that subject well enough.

We also are blind as Dana is as to why she is important and what everyone is wanting from her. While this is deeply frustrating, it makes sense. You get the same sense that Dana must be feeling. This is why I think we don't get to see the intricacies of Avalon politics. We will learn about them as she learns. Plus, even by the end of the book, you are not sure who you could fully trust as Dana is not sure. This is where I believe that her foray into parental alcoholism plays. This is why she is able to cope as well as she does throughout the book. Otherwise, I would have questioned how she could have had her world turned upside down with no one to lean on and still come through in tact, mentally.

So, do I recommend this book? Oh yes. I give it 4 stars and I'm looking forward to the next book in this series already. I got this ARC from the Goodreads first reads program. It is due to be published on May 25, 2010.